


A Conflict of Interest

by Out-of-Character217 (Out_of_Character217)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Betrayal, Blood, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Mentions of Prostitution, Minor Character Death, Mob AU, Morally Ambiguous Characters, Organized Crime, Terminal Illnesses, basically there are no good guys here, canon compliant character death, double crossings, eDIT:, gangster au, questionable morality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-17 15:17:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17562941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Out_of_Character217/pseuds/Out-of-Character217
Summary: Cloud is an assassin and the best in the business. But when he’s sent to kill the arch nemesis of his master he faces his own moral dilemma. It’s not his job to bring peace, but he’ll try nonetheless.





	1. Red Right Hand

**Author's Note:**

> “He'll wrap you in his arms  
> Tell you that you've been a good boy  
> He'll rekindle all the dreams  
> It took you a lifetime to destroy  
> He'll reach deep into the hole  
> Heal your shrinking soul  
> But there won't be a single thing  
> That you can do  
> He's a god, he's a man  
> He's a ghost, he's a guru  
> They're whispering his name  
> Through this disappearing land  
> But hidden in his coat  
> Is a red right hand“
> 
> \- Red Right Hand - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

“So, he must really want me dead.” The room is so quiet you can hear a pin drop. It’s dark. The dead of night. Leon’s bedroom bathed in shadows and hidden in one of them is a man. 

“Must do, if he’s sent me.” Cloud replies. He doesn’t bother pretending. Leon knows he’s there.

“Then why aren’t I?” It’s a fair enough question. Cloud isn’t the type to drag this out. Knows his job well and follows through even quicker. It’s what has made him the best. When Corneo wants you dead, you die, that’s all there is to it. Cloud steps out of the shadows and lets Leon see him. Gives him fair warning and hesitates to answer. He has a reason, but he can’t quite bring himself to share it. 

“You’ve made quite a name for yourself.” He says instead. 

“You plan to kill me with flattery?” 

Despite himself, Cloud smiles. He’s missed that dry humour. Sharp and brittle like a frost bitten leaf when it crunches underfoot. “You don’t seem concerned. Given the fact that I’ve broken into your home.” He observes. 

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time now would it.” Leon’s expensive shoes click on the hardwood floor when he crosses the room and stops to pour himself a drink. 

“I could have poisoned the whiskey.” Cloud points out, his gaze heavy on Leon’s shoulders. He’s impressed he’s turned his back to him at all.   
“Since when was poison ever your style?” Leon turns and takes a sip. Smooth and bold. 

Cloud circles the bed and crosses the room, feet soundless on the carpeted areas and whispers on the wood, and he comes to stand in front of Leon. Can smell the alcohol on the air in the space between them and he takes the glass from Leon without breaking eye contact and takes a sip. 

“You could still talk to him. Make peace.”

Leon scoffs. Blinks slowly. Softens his gaze. “We both know the time for talking has passed. Else you wouldn’t be here.” 

“You have to know, you’ve nothing to fear from me, right?” Cloud searches grey eyes and bares his throat to the steel in them. 

“Says the assassin.” Leon smirks. 

“You’re a powerful man now, Squall. Even if we didn’t have-”

“Have what?” Leon snaps. Maybe it’s that name that does it. Maybe it’s hearing it out loud after all these years. “Even if we didn’t have history, you mean?” 

“We’re not children anymore.” There’s a note of caution to Cloud’s tone. Cloud makes sure Leon hears it. “We both chose a side.” 

“Some choice.” Leon smirks, takes the glass  
from Cloud and drains it. He places it back on the sideboard and he’s facing Cloud once more. 

“You didn’t do too badly for yourself, all things considered.” 

“The fact that you can say that with a straight face when you’ve been sent here to put a bullet in my head…” Leon’s smile is genuinely incredulous. “It’s why I love you.” he adds, the smile fading until he’s all serious again. “It’s why I’ve always loved you.” 

There’s a flicker of something in Cloud’s eyes. Something unsure. For the first time ever, something Leon has said has finally made an impression and it breaks through Cloud’s faultless mask. Fucking damn him. “You’ve got timing, you know that?” He manages to say. Not quite sure how he doesn’t choke on the words because if it’s one thing that’s fucked them over their whole lives, it’s been the timing. 

“Yeah well, I wouldn’t want to die with any secrets between us now would I?” Except it's never been a secret. Not really. Not to anyone who had eyes and a heart. And the latter wasn’t necessarily a requirement either. Cloud shakes his head. 

“All of this. All of this because I left?”

Leon scoffs. “Is it too late to change my answer and say it was because I just didn’t want to be a poor little orphan anymore?” 

“Neither of us wanted to be who we were.” Cloud’s retort cuts closer to home than Leon is comfortable with. 

“Yeah well,” he looks down at their feet and can feel the weight of all of his actions laid across his shoulders. “So long as we’re happy with the people we’ve become I guess it doesn’t really matter huh?” And he hates him just as much as he loves him for choosing the wrong side. Can feel the resentment and the bitterness in his words. He’s been carrying this for so long. This motivation fuelled by betrayal and loss and abandonment. How different might it have been if Cloud had just stayed? What kind of a man would he have become? 

“I guess we’ll never know.” Cloud says, and it’s like he’s read Leon’s mind. “This war with Corneo has to stop. He’s sent me to do it but I… I can’t, Squall. I’m begging you,” and Hyne, he is! He’s begging him and Leon has never seen that look on Cloud’s face before. “Make peace.” 

“If only Corneo could see his little lap dog now.” It’s a poor way to repay Cloud for his mercy. Calling him that to his face. Not when Cloud never had a choice. A victim of circumstance and powerful men, but Cloud is powerful in his own way now. A trained killer and the best in the business, he should have no one to fear. Except that he does. Because everyone has a weakness. Leon knows that better than anyone. In the time it takes him to blink Cloud has a knife pressed under his chin. 

“Don’t make me regret this.” It’s a warning. Leon’s not sure how much he can push him. How deep their bonds go. He’s never wanted to test them but this moment has been a long time coming and they both know it. Cloud might surprise him. Regret? The word almost makes him laugh. Regret is something he’s been drowning in nearly all his life. It makes up nearly everything he is. Just regret and loneliness bolstered together with ruthlessness and violence. He stares into Cloud’s blue eyes and sees all the mistakes he’s ever made staring back. All the wrong turns and the stupid decisions and he can’t stand it. He leans in and kisses him, nicking his throat against the blade still held between them but he presses harder until he hears a small whimper and he briefly wonders who it comes from.

Despite the blade still held to his throat Cloud is disarmed. Easy to maneuver. Leon walks him backwards, pawing at his suit. Pulling at his tie. He briefly has time to shed his own suit jacket before the backs of Cloud’s knees hit the side of the bed and they both fall. 

Cloud moves the blade just in time but it’s still in his hand. Leon doesn’t forget that. But he distracts him with a hot mouth against his jaw and neck, pulling open the collar of his shirt. No aftershave. What self respecting assassin would wear something so distinctive? But the smell of him is powerful and familiar despite it. In that place where his blood runs so close to the surface. Leon bites down and can’t help the roll of his hips. This time, there’s no mistaking who moans. Leon wants to hear it again. By the time Leon moves his way down to the base of Cloud’s throat, he’s worked open the last of the buttons holding Cloud’s dress shirt together. He pulls back slightly. Gives them both a moment and he eyes the body laid out beneath him. Scars and all, he’s beautiful. He’s lost for a moment, transported back in time to a place so alien from this one. He can almost smell the filth and stink of the slums. Can feel the humid air and the disease that permeates everything. A hand against his cheek pulls him back and he’s looking into Cloud’s eyes. 

“It’s in the past.” He’s reading his mind again. Cloud takes control, rolls them over and straddles Leon and makes light work of the rest of their clothes. Leon marvels at how, even naked, Cloud doesn’t look vulnerable. He’s strong and assured, every movement purposeful. There is nothing wasteful; he uses his body efficiently. He holds Leon down and takes him into his body and one of the last coherent thoughts to cross Leon’s mind before it’s obliterated is that this too is a kind of death. Bit by bit, piece by piece Cloud’s been taking him apart and he wonders how he’ll survive it this time.

Cloud’s hot mouth is back on his and Leon arches up to meet every thrust. Fucks deep into Cloud’s body and wants to claw at his skin. But Cloud has him pinned down. Arms above his head in a vice grip. The sound of slapping flesh, hot breath, and the blood rushing in his ears tunes everything else out and his world comes down to this. To Cloud. It’s always been Cloud.

“Don’t go.” He moans into his mouth. Already thinking of when this is over but he can’t bring himself to feel ashamed. He wants so badly. He knows it’s impossible. 

“I have to.” Despite how much it tears and hurts, Cloud doesn’t sound sorry. He fucks him harder, knows just how to get him off and he wastes no time. Leon can feel himself about to fall. Knows it’s almost over and with a pitiful cry he’s cuming. Can feel Cloud cuming too. The euphoria washes over him and it’s followed by a blow to the stomach. Like he’s been winded. He doesn’t notice the pain at first because there is none. His next intake of breath opens the floodgates, and he looks down and sees the knife. The distinctive handle with the wolf’s head motif that is Cloud’s calling card. It’s sticking out of his guts just below his belly button. A warning then. Nowhere near fatal and that’s not an accident. He looks back up at Cloud and remembers to breathe. 

“Make peace.” Cloud says, a light of something shimmering in his eyes and Leon thinks it might be pain. Regret. Even sorrow. Is astonished that after everything he can even recognise those emotions. 

Cloud kisses him. Hard. Then climbs off. Leaves Leon sprawled on the bed, naked and bleeding. By the time he’s gathered enough of his wits about himself to move, Cloud is long gone.


	2. Gods and Monsters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “In the land of gods and monsters  
> I was an angel, lookin' to get fucked hard  
> Like a groupie incognito posing as a real singer  
> Life imitates art  
> You got that medicine I need  
> Dope, shoot it up straight to the heart please  
> I don't really wanna know what's good for me  
> God's dead, I said 'baby that's alright with me'
> 
> No one’s gonna take my soul away  
> Living like Jim Morrison  
> Headed towards a fucked up holiday  
> Motel, sprees, sprees, and I’m singing  
> Fuck yeah give it to me, this is heaven, what I truly want  
> It's innocence lost  
> Innocence lost”
> 
> God’s and Monsters - Lana Del Ray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please re-check the tags as some have been added. Check this is still a story you want to read.

Seventh Heaven. The name is a mockery of itself. It’s about as far away from heaven as it’s possible for a man to get around here and there’s little in the way of salvation inside. But down below the plate, in the slums, amongst the rabble and the unwashed, it’s as close as anyone is likely to get.

Cloud doesn’t feel tired the way normal men do. Doesn’t need to sleep as much as they do. He doesn’t feel the weight of his body or the itch in his eyes. They trained that out of him; beat that out of him until he despised the notion of rest. Saw it for the weakness it was; just another chance for someone else to slip the knife in while his guard was down. Instead he feels it in his bones. The kind of weariness that is so saturated inside of him that he bleeds exhaustion. Sweats fatigue. The only way to beat it they said, was to never be rested again, and he feels that bitter truth in what remains of his soul as he climbs the steps to the home he’s made in the whore house and passes from one stench into another. 

Tifa is at the bar. It’s mostly empty. Early morning brings the scum of the slums to the surface like scud on a pond. They float in their booze and fester. Nursing whatever their pockets can provide. 

“You’re late.” Tifa is pissed. Always angry at something and usually it’s Cloud. Normally perfectly justifiable. 

“Don’t start.” Cloud shuffles to the bar and sits carefully on a stool. Waits a moment before opening his eyes to find a drink in front of him. Even when she’s angry Tifa wouldn’t begrudge him a drink. He reaches inside of his suit jacket and fingers the packet of money, before he slides it out across the bar. Doesn’t take his hand off it until Tifa puts hers down. “How is she?”

“Sleeping,” Tifa stuffs the money inside her bra and god help the man who tries to take it from her. She’s broken more noses and fingers than Cloud has, and that’s saying something considerable. “She’s always sleeping, Cloud. Maybe you should call in more often.”

Cloud doesn’t have the energy to get into this. Not after the night he’s had. So he ignores her and drinks instead. Takes his time and manages to pass another half hour before he can’t avoid it any longer. He slides the empty glass away and slips off the stool. Bones aching. Head full of shit and drink. He climbs the stairs behind the bar and makes his way up the rickety steps that wind upwards towards the first landing. All the rooms are quiet. All the girls in their beds. He climbs again. The staircase gets narrower. The second landing is darker and there’s someone coming down the hall. Shoulders bouncing off the walls. It’s Aerith. Cloud recognises her long hair and catches sight of her pale face in the dim light. She tries to hide it but he catches her arm and slips a finger under her chin. Another bruise. And her large green, glassy eyes are sad. 

“It’s nothing,” she says before he can get a word out. 

Cloud sighs and gently runs his knuckles along her cheek, an apology in his eyes as he looks at her and wants to say more. “If he comes back tell me. I’ll break his arms off.” It’s not an idle threat either. 

“You’ll have to make do with his legs,” Aerith smiles, “Tifa broke his arm last night.” 

Despite himself, Cloud snorts. Of course. There’s always Tifa. He lowers his hand and folds her against his chest for a moment. Hugging her and remembering a promise that he’s so very far from making good on. If Zack could see them now. Perhaps it is a good thing he’s gone. 

Aerith pulls away and nods her head up the next flight of stairs. “She’s been calling for you.” 

He thinks about changing his mind. Knows he can’t. And heads upstairs. 

The attic is his room. Unbearably hot in the summer and freezing in the winter, it’s the largest single room in the whole building. What he needs the space for, Cloud’s not sure. The rafters sit low out towards the edges and peak in the middle, and there are a few spots of sunlight streaming in from holes in the corrugated iron. Better sunlight than rain, but that drips down too when it pours. The floorboards creak and moan with his weight, dust particles lift into the air as he passes, and there’s a bed in the corner strewn with tatty blankets and sweat stained sheets. Amongst the pile of filth, a woman moans and wheezes. A short, hacking cough erupts and then a spindly arm rises into the air. It’s got something in its hand. A pipe. Smoke stained and grimy and the bony arm misses the nightstand and the pipe crashes to the floor and skitters away near Cloud’s feet. 

Cloud picks it up. Crosses the room and places the pipe on the nightstand. It’s just as hard to make out the emaciated body from here. Her form no more distinguishable from the rags she’s sleeping in. She groans again and tries to say something. A bunch of jumbled nonsense. Cloud kneels down and strokes her hair back. Once golden like his. Now dull and greying. Thin in places and knotted in others. 

“Mom?” He tries to rouse her but she’s still caught in that sticky place between drugged coma and the real world. She lashes out. Weak and insipid but she catches Cloud against the chest. Clings onto the lapels of his jacket. 

“More!” She groans. Her mouth hangs open and she coughs the black sludge out of her lungs. Some spittle landing on her chin. Cloud wipes it off with the edge of the blanket and takes her sunken face between his hands. 

“Mom,” He shakes her, and she opens her eyes. Nothing registers. She shrieks again about wanting more but Cloud just shakes his head. “You’ve had enough. It’s me. It’s Cloud.”

His mother wails in agony, thrashes her arms at being denied the thing that keeps her from having to see herself like this. She strikes him across the face and twists herself away from his grip. 

“Shhhh,” it’s all he can do to sooth her as she drifts again. When she opens her eyes it’s as if she’s seeing him for the first time. Like she’s only just realised he’s there. 

“C-Cloud? Is that...is that you?” She's suddenly an old woman. Limbs shake as she raises her arms to bring him to her. Her glassy eyes brimming with tears. “Is that my boy?”

“It’s me,” Cloud nods, folds her in his arms and tries not to snap her in two with his embrace. She buries her head against his chest and sobs. 

“Did you bring it? Did you bring me my medicine?” He manages to decipher through her tears. 

“I got you proper medicine,” Cloud corrects. Hears her groan and winge. 

“Not that!” She pushes away, black spittle on her chin again and flops back onto the bed. “I want my medicine!”

“It makes you worse. You don’t need it.” Cloud clears a space on the nightstand and empties his pockets of a vial and syringe. 

“You don’t tell me what I need.” His mother snarls, brushing his hand away. Tries to knock the vial onto the floor and smash it. “I’m your mother. I’ll tell you what I need, you goddamned son of a bitch.” Cloud closes his ears to this. Has heard it all before and knows it’s the mako talking. The woman who raised him and gave her life for him would never say those things to him in her right mind. This woman isn’t even a shadow of her. “You fucking bastard, you useless god damned bastard, where is my medicine?!” She swings at him again and Cloud has to grab her wrist to stop her from scratching his eyes out. Holds her down easy enough and picks up the loaded syringe off the table. “No! No get off me. Lemme go.” Her veins are shot, but there’s one good one left in her neck, and he manages to keep her subdued enough to get the shot into her. Knows he’s just shooting good money down a drain at this point. 

His mother is still now. Quietly sobbing, but resting and not fighting him. He puts the needle away and arranges the blankets over her shoulders. Tucks her in so she’ll be warm. Strokes her hair for a few minutes. Until he feels like he’s met his quota and gets up to leave.

“Don’t go,” a pathetic whimper and a flimsy hand around his wrist. “Don’t go, don’t leave me.” 

“I have to,” he breaks the hold easily, and tries not to think about how relieved he is to close the door behind him. To shut out the wails of her misery and walk away from her empty insults. 

*******

“The fuck happened to you?” Seifer. It could only be Seifer. It’s the last thing Leon needs. Carefully, hand shaking with suppressed pain, Leon peels the compression bandage off his stomach and winces down at the inch long wound in his gut. The bleeding has stopped now. Mostly. It just hurts like a son of a bitch. It’ll be a sharp reminder every time he moves for the next two weeks. 

“Where’s Vincent?” Straight to the point. And if he’s honest he’s feeling a little woozy. Perched on the side of his roll top bath tub in nothing but a pair of sweatpants, if he faints here, in front of Seifer he’ll never hear the end of it. He moves. Cautiously. Hobbling a little to the wide vanity mirror and expansive marble top sink. Still clutching the soaked through gauze to his belly, and fumbles through the scattered first aid kit he tipped out earlier. 

“Down at the distillery with Jessie. Got a new shipment coming in.” Seifer dutifully informs him. Wisely chooses not to press the issue. “You gonna answer me? What the hell happened here?” Or maybe not. 

“It’s nothing.” 

“Nothing? You’re bleeding all over the place. If someone got to you that’s the kind of shit I need to know.”

“I said it’s nothing,” Leon shoots Seifer a patented death glare and it shuts him up for all of two seconds. 

“I swear to god, Squall…” he leaves the threat hanging. Finds the better part of himself and marches into the bathroom. “Lemme see,” he takes over. Inserting himself into Leon’s business like he’s his goddamn mother. Even clicks his tongue at him when he sees the wound and scans about for clean gauze and some disinfectant. He cleans it and dresses it quickly and quietly. The latter appreciated far more by Leon who leans against the wall and watches him work. 

“I need you to get Vincent. Bring him here to me. I’ve got a job for the pair of you.” 

“You’re really not going to tell me what this is about?” Seifer steps back. 

“I will. Just find Vincent first.” 

“Are you gonna be alright?” He really must look like shit. Seifer wouldn’t be asking if he didn’t. 

“Just get Vincent.” 

“You know, you kinda scare me when you get like this.” Seifer’s tone is genuinely worried, and it’s the last thing Leon needs. He steps forwards and cups Leon’s cheek. Leon knows what he’s about to do next and he can’t have that. Not after last night. Seeing Cloud again. It just… doesn’t feel right. And when Seifer leans in to press a kiss to his lips his turns his head away and it lands on his cheek instead. “Fine. Have it your way,” now Seifer’s insulted as well as concerned. Not a good mix. 

“Just do as you're told. Find Vincent.”

Seifer scowls. Not as well as Leon can. But it’s a good imitation. He leaves, and Leon occupies himself with cleaning up. 

********

“Is it done?”

Cloud stands before Don Corneo. The small office is wood panelled and without windows. Hidden underground, beneath his favourite casino and brothel: The Honeybee Inn. A reflection perhaps of his paranoid mind. It’s claustrophobic and dimly lit. Everything is mahogany wood and gilt framing and not for the first time Cloud muses that even extreme wealth can’t by taste.

“No,” he shakes his head. Knows what’s coming next. Corneo looks up at him through cigar smoke and pinpoint eyes narrowed to a crosshair, and Cloud can feel the circumference of the room close in just a touch. 

“No?” 

What will be his excuse, he briefly wonders? He’s come here without one prepared and Cloud thinks that’s a kind of death wish. But it’s been a good few years since Cloud felt anything other than apathy towards dying. So. What will it be? 

“He knew I was there; he was waiting for me.” It’s a half truth. Still not an excuse though. Not for someone like Cloud.

Corneo takes a drag of his cigar and keeps his gaze steady. Considers Cloud a while before he speaks. “Forgive me if I’m wrong but,” another pull of smoke, “isn’t that the fucking point?”

Cloud shrugs, “The element of surprise was gone. He offered a deal instead.” 

“I didn’t send you there to make a deal you jumped up piece of shit. I sent you there to put a bullet between his eyes.” 

Cloud’s jaw tightens at the insult but he holds firm. Corneo has nothing to fear from him. Assassin or not, Cloud is wrapped so tightly around Corneo’s little finger he’s cutting off the blood supply. He owns the piece of shit whore house Cloud lives in. Owns the lives of everyone in it. He owns the very ground Cloud walks on all the way from Hollow Bastion to Twilight Town and then all the way up to the plate. And it doesn’t matter that Cloud knows a hundred different ways to kill him with nothing but his bare hands and a cheese wire. Doesn’t matter he could take everyone in this office, one on one or all together. Other lives are depending on him. His mother. Tifa. Aerith. Corneo knows that. Knows he’s got Cloud by the balls and can treat him any way he wants. There’s an irony in that, Cloud thinks; having the ability to end countless lives in a heartbeat but lacking the autonomy to do a thing about it. 

Leon is right. He’s a lap dog. Let loose when, and only when, Corneo commands it. A docile and impotent creature when he doesn’t. 

“It’s an interesting one. I think you should hear him out.” That gets Corneo’s back up instantly. He stiffens and straightens. His eyes narrow to slits, and he puts his cigar in the ashtray. 

“You...think?” He says. As if the notion were ridiculous. The men stood guarding the door behind Cloud step a little closer. He can feel them pressing in on his back. Knows without turning they’re exactly two feet behind him at five and seven o’clock. Combined weight of around three hundred and fifty pounds. The left one is carrying two pistols and a dagger in his boot and the right has a semi automatic and a handgun. A Glock. Lightweight. Mainly plastic outer casings but the spring and pin components are metal. The one at five o’clock favours his right knee owing to a through and through bullet wound taken about six months ago. Judging from the way he stands on it. 

“Tell me, Strife. Do I pay you to think?”

Cloud shakes his head. Knows the imminent danger and feels nothing towards his own sense of self preservation. 

“Or do I pay you to do as you’re told?” 

Cloud nods, “You do.” 

“So tell me then, why you’ve disobeyed a direct order? Why you are standing there telling me what you think I should do?” Cloud isn’t stupid. He’s not going to answer that. “I permit you to live, Cloud. I permit you to breathe my fucking air because it pleases me to do so. I allow you to eat and piss and shit in my city and I can take it away any time I fucking feel like it. You wanna know what I think?” Corneo must have given some kind of a signal, because Cloud feels the air move and then seven o’clock has a grip on his shoulder and a foot in the back of his knee. He collapses to the ground and lets them fold his arms behind his back. 

“I think you’re forgetting yourself.” Corneo stands up, his fat frame squeezing out of his chair and he wobbles around his desk to stand in front of Cloud. He draws a gun from his side holster. “I think sometimes you forget exactly what kind of a dirty, pathetic maggot you are. I think sometimes you want to be the one who run things around here. Maybe put a bullet or two in my head for good measure, huh?” 

Cloud would call him paranoid except he’s right. Well, at least half right in any case. There isn’t enough gil in the world to persuade him to take up the mantle of Don. But an opportunity to scatter Corneo’s brains on the walls would be a fine thing. 

“Or maybe you’ve made a deal with Leonhart? Maybe you want him to do the dirty work for you so’s you can pick up the pieces once he’s done? Maybe that’s what this is about?”

“I have nothing to do with him.” Cloud wants that on the record. 

“Oh, you see, now I know you’re lying,” Corneo smiles and it’s grubby and glinting, filled with stained gold teeth. “I know. Because I know all about little Squall Leonhart. The orphan raised up from nothing. You two used to run around together. Back before he became Mr Big Shot. Left you in the mud though didn’t he,” Corneo waves the gun at him, clearly enjoying the small turn of events. This upper hand he thinks he has. “Took care of himself and left you to rot down here with the rest of us. And now I think you want out. I think maybe your old pal owes you a favour or two. Convenient isn't it, having friends in high places?” Corneo grips his face and squeezes. Forces his mouth open and he slips the muzzle of the gun between Cloud’s teeth. 

“Well I’m here to remind you. Your place is here, beneath my boot. You do what I tell you, when I tell you. Or that sick mother of yours? Maybe her medicine finally runs out. And that bitch whore who runs my business down in sector seven? Maybe she meets with a little accident one night. You see,” he shoves the gun in deeper and Cloud winces. “I’ve got you where I want you. You’re mine, Cloud. Everything you’ve got - everything you love - belongs to me. Fuck with me, and I’ll ruin you so badly it’ll feel like you’ve been fucked by a train. Understand?”

And what else can Cloud do but nod?

Corneo takes the gun out and shoves Cloud’s face away. Turns his back and walks behind his desk again and lowers himself into his chair with a weighted groan. 

“I think you need a little incentive. Me? A little insurance. That nice bit of meat you live with, the one with the long hair and the green eyes. I’d like to extend her an invitation to stay with me for a while.”

Cloud’s blood runs cold. “No,” he growls.  
Struggles a bit against the assholes holding him down. But it’s a fight he won’t win. 

“No? What, you don’t think she’ll appreciate my company?”

Cloud wants to maim and kill. Wants to tear jugulars from throats and rip hearts from chest cavities. Preferably while they’re still beating. His promise to Zack is disintegrating before his eyes and he’s powerless to stop it. 

“You’ve insulted me twice in one day, Cloud. I’d watch your mouth if I were you. The girl comes here, and you,” Corneo leans over his desk and stares down at Cloud. Meets the fire in his eyes with calm indifference and a cold malice. “You’ll go back up there and finish the job you were sent to do. Or I’ll burn your whole fucking life to the ground.”

Corneo tilts his chin. A dismissal. The goons hoist Cloud up onto his feet but they don’t drag him far. Down a few twisted corridors to a dank cellar room and proceed to kick seven shades of shit out of him. A little souvenir to take with him. A reminder of the conversation and a promise of what’s to come if he forgets. He’s tossed out onto the streets half an hour later. He can’t go home. Can’t go anywhere down here without Corneo knowing about it. There’s only one place he can think of, and he hates to admit it but he needs Leon now more than ever and not just for somewhere to lie low. He picks himself up and heads for the plate. 

*******

It’s almost peaceful up here. Not just above the plate, but up above the city, raised into the clouds encased in concrete and glass. Leon’s penthouse apartment has been built for space and the view. Symbolic really. That he should be so far away from the mud and the disease that he grew out of. As far away as it is possible to get straight up. Glass walls let him see everything. The city scape sprawling out before him. Radiant Garden is his. There is nothing beyond his reach up here. Only, the thing he wants - the only thing he’s ever wanted - has never existed above the plate. Cloud is down there. Outside of his jurisdiction and pretty much the only thing out of Leon’s reach. An endless irony Leon never fails to find dry humour in. After all, what has been the point in all of this if not to find a way to Cloud? And still they are just as far apart as they’ve always been.

“You want to do what?” Seifer’s less than impressed. His tone cuts across Leon’s trail of thought. 

“I want to make a deal with Corneo.” He repeats. 

“And you plan to do this by stealing the guns he stole from the Turks, and using them as leverage?”

“That’s right,” Leon nods, turning away from the window. Both Seifer and Vincent are seated in the sunken lounge area, reclining on opposite ends of the couch. “The guns are insurance, in case he doesn’t comply to terms. They’re also bait. He won’t meet with us unless we give him a reason to. Having stolen property belonging to the Turks is pretty good incentive, I think.” 

“So why the sudden change of heart?” Seifer is still incredulous. Obviously thinks this is suicide. And why not? Leon controls sixty eight percent of the territory above the plate and hasn’t had to deal with what’s under it for quite a few years. Why decide to dance with Corneo now? Why kick the hornet's nest?

“I had a visit from Fenrir last night.”

Silence. Not even Seifer is expecting that.

“Yet you’re still alive,” Vincent this time. No trace of the disbelief he must be feeling in his voice. 

“Alive, but not completely unscathed.” Leon raises an eyebrow and the hem of his shirt. It clicks into place for Seifer. “Corneo wants me dead. He broke the truce and stuck first so we’re going to retaliate.”

“By making peace?” Vincent deadpans.

“I fully expect Corneo to refuse my offer. He has no intentions of peace. That’s why you’re here.” Leon nods at Vincent. “I want you to organise a counter attack on all of his business’ in sectors two through four. They’re his most lucrative outside of the HoneyBee. I plan to take back Hollow Bastion and I’ll do it by negotiation or by force if necessary.”

“Why the hell would you even want that shit hole back?” Seifer is clearly struggling. He’s nervous. Has every right to be. As Leon’s personal security and bodyguard it’s his job to weigh the risks. And this job? Well, it’s insane.

“By taking control of Hollow Bastion we take control of Fenrir - Corneo’s most deadly, and possibly his only real asset. I’ll sleep a little easier at night knowing my forehead isn’t in his crosshairs, and Fenrir is on our side.” And in his bed, Leon thinks, but doesn’t say. And maybe, just maybe, once all of this is done, he can finally have peace. For himself. For Cloud… and for Ell? Justice. 

“So when do we move?” Seifer knows better than to argue once Leon has a plan in mind. Though it doesn’t stop him sounding like a petulant child. 

“Tomorrow. I’ve sent a runner down to the HoneyBee to parlay with Corneo. If the boy comes back we’ll know he accepts. If he doesn’t…”

“Tomorrow?” Seifer is angry now. Vincent wisely keeps quiet. “You want us to organise a counter strike and steal five hundred guns in one night?” 

“The guns yes,” Leon walks across the foyer towards the bar and pours himself a drink. Forces both Seifer and Vincent to turn in their seats. “But the counter strike is not to move until after we’re in the HoneyBee keeping Corneo busy. I think he’d notice large swarms of Restoration men flooding his patch, don’t you?” 

“How many men will you be taking?” Vincent asks but it’s a question Seifer should have thought of. 

“Four.”

“Just four?” Seifer is agitated enough to stand up. “You’re gonna go waltzing into Corneo territory with just four men, threaten to turn him over to the Turks with his stolen guns while demanding his entire patch and expect to walk away unharmed?”

Leon must admit, from the outside it certainly does seem crazy. “Yes.” He nods. Knocks his drink back in one and turns to leave. “So get busy.”

Vincent won’t argue. Vincent never argues. He leaves quickly and calmly knowing he’s got an almost impossible task to complete. Seifer on the other hand…

“Squall wait,” he catches up with Leon and grabs him round the arm. A single, cold look from Leon has him releasing him in the next breath. “This is insane.” Seifer is a little more measured. Can detect that look in Leon’s gaze that says he’s almost at capacity for dealing with bullshit. 

“I’m not asking for your opinion.”

“Well you should. I’m your bodyguard for Hyne’s sake. And this is the stupidest thing you’ve thought up in a long, long time. What’s gotten into you?” Surprisingly, Leon answer’s him. 

“It’s time, Seifer. It’s time we put all of this shit behind us.” The way he says it melts the frown off Seifer’s face and replaces it with a dawning realisation. 

“This isn’t about business is it?” Seifer’s careful with the way he says it. “This is personal. This is about the fire… about Ell.”

Leon snaps so quickly Seifer doesn't have a chance to see it coming. Stab wound or no stab wound, he moves with lightning speed. Grips Seifer around the throat and shoves him against a support column. Pins him there and bares his teeth in a snarl that’s gone in a heartbeat. He looks like he’s going to say something. Wants to say what’s racing through his mind and let it all come spilling out but he catches himself. Shuts it down just as quickly as it rises. Keeps it all locked inside where it belongs. He lets go of Seifer’s throat. Steps back and in an instant his cold mask of indifference is back in place. He doesn’t say anything. Just turns and walks away. Closes his bedroom door and leaves Seifer to get on with his job. 

His bedroom is bathed in soft orange light. Suffused shadows soaking up any glare and just like the night before he can tell he’s not alone. “If you’ve come to put another hole in me I’d appreciate it if you did it while my clothes are on this time.” He says casually while he flicks his wrist watch off and places it on the dresser. Unbuttons his cufflinks and loosens his tie. 

“I’m not armed,” Cloud replies. But then again, Cloud doesn’t need to be armed to be dangerous.

“I suppose you heard all of that?” Cloud doesn’t answer but Leon doesn’t need him to. “I wasn’t expecting you back so soon…” the comment falls away when he turns and sees Cloud in the half light. Even at this distance and with the shadows hiding most of him Leon can see the damage. “What happened?” 

“I miscalculated,” Cloud shrugs. “Corneo thinks I’m working both sides.”

“Aren’t you?” Leon steps forward, wants to see the extent of Cloud’s injuries properly. 

“I need your help, Squall.” 

That stops him in his tracks. Cloud has never asked him for anything. Not so much as a single gil and Leon can't remember the last time he heard his name said like that. Almost… desperate.

“He took Aerith.” It’s all he needs to say for Leon to understand. 

“When?” 

“Today. He’s keeping her as insurance.”

“For what?” 

Cloud looks away, like he’s ashamed and when he looks back at Leon his eyes are so pained it makes Leon’s heart bleed. “Until you’re dead.” 

Silence. For a long time both of them say nothing. 

“You still certain I have nothing to fear from you?” Leon tries to break the tension. It falls flat. 

“I’m not here to kill you, Squall. Not yet. But if you won’t help me…”

“You’d do it? You’d really kill me?”

“I’d do what I have to do to protect the people I care about.” 

And that stings. Not the killing part. But not being included in the people Cloud cares about. Leon coughs unexpectedly, a convenient cover up for the pang of hurt. “Of course I’ll help you.” He looks down and stuffs his hands in his pockets, a moment of silence passes and Cloud nods. 

“Can I crash here tonight?”

Leon sees how tired he really is. The way he holds himself reads like he hasn’t slept in days. Knowing Cloud that’s probably true. “Of course.”

Cloud smiles a little and moves. Or tries to. There’s a misstep in his gait. He stumbles and collapses. Leon catches him just in time. Takes his weight and guides him to the bed in an awkward shuffle. Cloud sits and winces and Leon crouches down and cups his face, tilting it into the light to see it better. His whole face is black and blue.

“How long since you last slept?” He says. Tries to distract himself. To not focus on his face or why it looks like that. Cloud’s answer just concerns him more. 

“Two days.”

Leon sighs and leans back a bit. Let’s the silence stretch on because he really doesn’t know what else to say. This is brand new territory.

“Seifer’s right, you know,” Cloud says softly. “Your plan. It’s crazy. Corneo’s never going to agree to meet with you under your terms stolen guns or not.”

Leon considers the situation a moment, and figures he’ll tell Cloud. It can’t hurt him now to tell him. 

“He will once he knows I’m willing to offer forty percent of my business.”

Cloud looks up, eyes wide and disbelieving. Tries to gauge if Leon is serious or has taken leave of his senses entirely.

“I’ll get her back, Cloud. I promise.”

Cloud looks like he wants to say something. Wants to know exactly what Leon’s doing and why the hell he’s risking so much. Knows it’s not all for him, and thinks of Ell. 

“Destroying Corneo won’t bring her back.” He says, eyes sad. Leon’s flash with anger for a moment before he tempers himself and looks away. 

“I know. But she deserves justice.”

“And you deserve your revenge.” It might have been a biting comment from anybody else. Leon wouldn’t have allowed anyone else to get away with it. But Cloud? Well, he’s right.

“Come on, let's get you cleaned up. Get some rest. We can talk about this tomorrow.” 

Cloud doesn’t protest. Let’s Leon help him into the shower and stands there with Leon pressed to his back, soaking up the hot spray. Sore muscles and broken ribs screaming in protest. Finally, they go to bed, and despite that urgent need to stay vigilant - to be on his guard at all times - Cloud falls easily asleep, and stays that way until dawn.


End file.
